Combat looks very stiff

Just today I started looking into SWTOR watching videos and stuff. I like the overall style of the graphics, but when it comes to combat it looks really clunky.

I'm not talking about the mechanics, but the looks of it. The animation for itself dont look that bad but they seem terribly clipped together. The bodies look very cramped and there is no response to taking damage at all.

If you see somone fast altering directions it looks very strange and there is no "in combat alertness stance" , and no dynamic at all. People are jogging around around like on a sunday morning and get shot by lasers as if it would be nothing.

I dont think i can get the right feeling of "Battle action" from the looks of the Videos. Combat looks sooooooo dull in this game, i dont get how they can mess this up so much.

For many this might only be cosmetically, but in my opinion animation is the key to the right feeling for your character (not so much the graphics), and so far what ive seen is very disappointing.

I found that no matter how smooth/stiff combat looks on video's it's never a real indication how it will feel in game. I do agree with you that "it's the key to the right feeling of your character" and in the end it's a deal breaker for me.

LOL sorry mate but i think ur watching the wrong game,<Snip> this games combat owns wows, no auto attacks so u do everything is awesome, and ive avoided playing almost every other star wars games about jedi for that reason, they all are stiff, this is NOT

Indeed, almost everyone I've talked to in RL who've commented that the combat looks bad has only watched the old 2009 combat stuff. Watch some of the newer combat on other alternative sites *cough* or even better I find that the combat from some of the developer walkthroughs is better than other places. Watch some of them and then we can talk.

Everquest II for me had a lot of potential. There seemed to be a ton of things to do in the game when I tried it out for a month (about two years ago), and most of the zones looked pretty gorgeous. Monster models were horrendous in terms of overall looks (must be the engine, because everything looked like plastic). However, I couldn't get into it because the overall feel of the combat system for melee characters was completely awkward.

LotRO was the same way. Gorgeous game, incredible lore, terrible combat system. Now that I think on it, Age of Conan was also horrendous in the combat department (but that is just *one* of it's many flaws).

Outside of WoW developers have put too much time into the actual animations of attacks/actions and have coded their engines so that another action may not occur until one is finished. So, what you end up getting is this stilted, stiff environment where the damage outgoing *NEVER* lines up with the actions you see. It makes it extraordinarily difficult to get a handle on combat and usually after a few days of playing I usually quit said game in disgust because I simply can't get into it.

It's an MMO; if combat's horribly stiff and non-reactive it's a major turn-off considering that probably 95% of what you'll be doing in the game is combat related. This is pretty much exclusive to physical classes. Casters are pretty hard to screw up.

Hopefully this isn't the case with The Old Republic, but that's a decision that can't be made until one is actually able to get a chance to actually play the game. "trust me its incredible" is a pointless statement because it'll come down to a personal take on how their combat feels to an individual.

I like that there are actually attractive races and designs, when dealing with western made RPGs I do reserve my hype for what horrendous melted action figure or grotesque creature that awaits me at the character select screen.

We have gotten very spoild from wow since the combat is extremely fluent.But SW:TOR looks very stiff even in the newer videos!
Probably just since the players have a bad case of backpaddeling and Keyturning,Bet it's great when the "real" players come in and show how it's supposed to be played

While I respect your opinion especially for someone who has tried playing the game, I must point out that the link I posted has in game footage. While you are correct they attempt to glorify the way combat looks in their montages the link I provided shows combat to the point where you even get to see the actual player ui for the Jedi Knight and the animations at that point look very smooth.

I imagine playing it feels a lot better than watching it. It does seem a bit stiff. The individual animations look good (except a few of them, like the running one with weapons out, it looks like two animation cycles combined into one body). But most video games (mmos to be precise) look fairly stiff in their combat.

While I respect your opinion especially for someone who has tried playing the game, I must point out that the link I posted has in game footage. While you are correct they attempt to glorify the way combat looks in their montages the link I provided shows combat to the point where you even get to see the actual player ui for the Jedi Knight and the animations at that point look very smooth.

Ok, well I did just watch your link, and towards the end when it shows the Jedi PoV it really does look very smooth. Much smoother than what I experienced in the beta. Might give this game another shot at release

Now that I think on it, Age of Conan was also horrendous in the combat department (but that is just *one* of it's many flaws).

The combat of AoC is polarizing. Some people, such as yourself, hate it. While a lot of others think it's easily the best combat of any mmo.

Going with that same theme, SWTOR might have the same affect, some will hate it, others will love it (although one major difference I see from the AoC example is that AoC's combat is a lot more brutal).

I agree with the OP. Especially ranged combat animation looks very dull to me. It might be better ingame, but from the videos i've been watching,
the lack of response to incoming attacks,
the fact that characters walk like they have a wooden plank strapped to their backs
and so on, looks rather silly at times.